MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Russian and US scientists are planning to conduct an experiment with the crew’s partial isolation aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to simulate a deep space flight, Deputy Director of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems within the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Kotov said on Saturday.
During a flight to the Moon or a deep space flight, the crews will face the problem of prolonged self-dependence, the researcher said.
"This is one of serious problems because the current system of medical provision is based on contacts with Earth and the possibility to return," he pointed out.
Considering that future flights will be fully self-dependent, all the resources and methods of medical provision should be aboard a spacecraft while cosmonauts should be ready to assume the entire burden of responsibility, the researcher noted.
"Today we are discussing with US colleagues the possibility of carrying out experiments aboard the ISS linked with the crew’s partial isolation, i.e. experiments simulating a deep space flight in order to start developing some elements of the flight’s autonomous provision," the institute’s deputy director said.
Currently, a series of experiments called SIRIUS (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station) is being implemented on Earth to prepare for deep space flights, in the first place, to the Deep Space Gateway. The participants in the research will spend from 17 days to a year in isolation at the ground-based experimental compound of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems.